The Book Cover that Judges You (video)

We all judge books by their covers; it's the first step in deciding if a book is worth reading. Here's a book that turns the tables on us.

"The Cover that Judges You" is a prototype for the Art Directors Club Netherlands design annual. It was developed by Thijs Biersteker. It use facial recognition tech to scan the faces of readers, and it will only open for the readers which approach the book non-judgmentally. If you're excited, upset, or sad, you're not getting inside this book.

"I often think our judgment comes before our amazement, and this book is filled with amazing design work that been awarded and judged already," says Biersteker. "So I thought all that was left was to approach the book without judgment, ready for full amazement."

As you can see in the video, the book uses a camera to scan a reader's face and look for signs that the reader is already having an emotional response. If it finds a neutral expression, an Arduino chip unlatches the cover so you can open the book.

Nate Hoffelder

Nate Hoffelder is the founder and editor of The Digital Reader. He has been blogging about indie authors since 2010 while learning new tech skills weekly. He fixes author sites, and shares what he learns on The Digital Reader's blog. In his spare time, he fosters dogs for A Forever Home, a local rescue group.

Related Posts

3 Comments

puzzled7 February, 2015

Obviously, these people have never heard the phrase ‘the sombre faces of the judges’…

[…] New Book Cover Tech: Judge and Be Judged (Ink, Bits & Pixels) A cheeky but intriguing prototype for a new digital book cover collects and responds to data from readers’ expressions using facial recognition software, and it only unlocks the book once it detects a non-judgemental disposition. […]